Page 62 of Black Onyx
“On it, I’ve got a spare larger bag that Farren can use,” Rival replies.
“Good.”
“Ah, I thought I’d see you lot here, come and sit down.” Fitz greets us decidedly more friendly than he was in our first lesson.
I think now that we’ve, or more like, I’ve proven that I’m here for the right reasons, I want to learn, and I didn’t get in on my father’s money. He’s not so surly with us. As we take our usual seats in this class, I’m surprised how few students are actually here, only around seventy, not including us, and that’s out of the four hundred or so currently in attendance at the academy. You’d think they’d jump at the chance to get some extra information.
“Zev, you alright, mate. Do you want to sit with us?” Loki asks, spotting Zev a few rows away.
“Sure,” he grabs his stuff and makes his way up, taking a seat next to Mayhem.
“In case you were wondering, this is what I saw. I’m sorry I couldn’t prewarn you.” Zev explains.
“Don’t worry about it, mate. We know what it’s like with visions.” Rival replies easily.
Our conversation is interrupted as Fitz calls the class to order.
“Right, it appears this is all who want to prepare themselves best, so I suppose we should get on with it,” Disappointment is evident in his tone, “this will just be a basic information kind of lecture, I will be going more in detail in my actual classes, and at the end, I will take questions.”
I pull out a notebook that I actually thought to bring because I have a feeling that we’re going to get a lot of information thrown at us very quickly, and I don’t want to forget anything vital. I’ve learned over the short amount of time I’ve been here that he doesn’t repeat himself.
“First of all, when you get called, there will be an invitation in Fae fire, and you’ll have minutes to get ready, grab any supplies you think you’ll need and arm up. Because of this, I suggest that you always have your weapons on you and nearby while you are sleeping. I would also suggest that you have a bag ready to go full of any supplies you think you may need in an easy to grab location.”
I look over to Storm, who has a slight uptick to one of his lips; he totally called it and has every right to feel smug.
“Now I know there’s not many of you that are in your completed teams and so, therefore, are living in the single dorms. It will be a challenge now that you’ll be sharing space with the members of your team that you do have, but it is absolutely crucial that you get to know them well. Learn their strengths and weaknesses so that you can help each other out in the levels of the Warrior games. Along that same thought line, I imagine that your combat professors will be having you spar against your teammates before you work as a team against another team of your size. They will be stepping up their training to ensure you are properly prepared.”
“Is there any way to know when we will get called?” Someone asks and shockingly doesn’t get his head bitten off, which is what usually happens in Fitz’s classes.
“Unfortunately not. The first team could get called in the next hour, or they could get called in a week. There’s no way to tell, but the Realm is fair, so I would like to think that she’d let us get at least a little bit of information in you before sending you in unprepared.”
“It seems a bit unfair that some teams are going to have more information than others going in,” a girl in the second row asks.
“It is but that is only because this school has become a farce in recent years. Back when the games were a regular thing and even for a long time after, you were all rigorously taught this. There was a professor specifically for all things to do with the games. Combat classes were harder, and failure wasn’t an option. If you weren’t passing all classes, then you were thrown out. Money,” he looks around seriously at some shrinking postures, which I think is slightly unfair since they’re here, which shows they’re taking it seriously even if they got in using money. “Money got you nowhere. You got in on your own skills, and you stayed so long as you kept up. So when the Head Seer announced the games once the Realm contacted her, everyone was ready. They just trained extra hard in combat to ensure they were on top of their game or to refresh their memory.”
I share a look with Loki sitting next to me. Well, that sure as shit explains why all the royals were called to the winter court by the Head Seer, although not why my father was involved apart from being a nosy fucker. What I am curious about though, is whether Zev got the warning from the Realm or somewhere else.”
Infinitely curious, I dart my eyes over to him, and he catches my gaze and nods once in confirmation. My own eyes widen. Holy fucking shit balls that means that Zev is going to be the next Head Seer. I suddenly panic, realising that he went to the fucking slimy as shit Headmaster, who would undoubtedly use him.
I scribble out a note, asking whether he told the Head or not and pass it over via Loki and Mayhem, who look at me curiously. Zev reads the note and looks up at me shaking his head no, and I release a worried breath. Thank fuck for that.
He passes the note back, and I read over it, “I had every intention to, but something felt extremely off about him, so instead, I told him that he needed to get in contact with the Head Seer immediately and left.”
I write back, “Good, don’t trust him and don’t tell anyone. Something is going on with the Headmaster, and he can’t be trusted. If you need anything at all, our room number is thirteen-thirteen. Any time.”
He reads, smiles slightly and nods. Which I hope means that he will actually use it if he needs to.
Panic over and getting curious looks from the guys, I tune back in and hope I haven’t missed anything too important.
“Right, as you know, the games are not all about the combat and weapons side of it. It’s also about brain power and strength of character. Your other teachers will be going over all the supernatural species in this realm, and the others, making sure you know how they work, what kills them, what they eat, how their magic and supernatural sides behave, and everything along those lines. They’ll also be going over strategies and trying to familiarise yourselves with as many territories across the Realms as possible. That is particularly important to pay attention to as you could end up absolutely anywhere. The Realm has a plan and knows far more than we could hope.”
Well, shit, that’s a hell of a lot of places that we could end up in, and I don’t know nearly enough about them or the creatures that occupy them. I need books, lots and lots of books.
“The length for your challenges will vary depending on what task you are set. There will be at least four days between stages so that you can rest and recuperate between each one, and there are ten stages in total. By the end of it, you will either be successful and bestowed a blessing and an extra gift from the Realm to help you protect it, or you won’t.”
I’m pretty grateful he didn’t say, or you’ll be dead. I have never heard of the Realm bestowing extra gifts on warriors that have won the games, but then again that would explain some of the crazy stories I’ve read in the history books about warriors of the past. There’s a buzz of excitement around the classroom as everyone chooses to focus on the extra gifts and not the threat of death.
“Now, the last thing I will cover, as it’s nearly time for dinner, is that usually, all outside jobs would be stopped and left for those who had already graduated, mainly to give those in the games a chance to train and focus solely on them and also so that they don’t get called whilst they are out on the job and risk compromising it,” he pauses, frowning and clearly disapproving of what he says next, “for whatever reason, the Headmaster has decided to send you all still out on them. I will carry on trying to convince him why this isn’t a good idea, and I hope he will finally concede. Until then, I wish you all the best of luck.”
